EU wins Nobel Peace Prize

By Richard Milne

Updated 6:40 AM ET, Fri October 12, 2012

Photos: The Nobel Prize winners of 201210 photos

Economics, Lloyd Shapley – U.S. economist Lloyd Shapley smiles outside his home in Los Angeles after being notified that he won the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics on Monday, October 15. He and Alvin Roth share the award for their work in market design and matching theory.

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Photos: The Nobel Prize winners of 201210 photos

Economics, Alvin Roth – Alvin Roth receives congratulatory phone calls at his home in Menlo Park, California, on Monday, October 15, after winning the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, which he shared with Lloyd Shapley. Roth was "surprised" and "delighted" when he got the midnight call at his California home telling him he had won.

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Peace, European Union – The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday to the European Union for peaceful reconciliation after World War II between former foes Germany and France, and for spreading democracy and human rights through Europe.

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Literature, Mo Yan – Chinese writer Mo Yan won the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature on Thursday, October 11, for works which combine "hallucinatory realism" with folk tales, history and contemporary life grounded in his native land. Picture taken October 19, 2005.

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Chemistry, Robert Lefkowitz – Robert Lefkowitz, center, enters a party held for him at Duke University after winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday. Lefkowitz shares the prize with his former student, Brian Kobilka.

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Chemistry, Brian Kobilka – Dr. Brian Kobilka, a professor of molecular and cellular physiology, stands in his laboratory at Stanford University. He shares the Nobel Prize in chemistry with Robert Lefkowitz of Duke University.

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Physics, Serge Haroche – Serge Haroche, a French physicist and professor at the College de France, shares the Nobel Prize in physics with David Wineland.

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Physics, David Wineland – David Wineland, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics, gives a tour Tuesday of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, where he works in the physics department.

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Medicine, Shinya Yamanaka – Kyoto University professor Shinya Yamanaka of Japan won the Nobel Prize in medicine for groundbreaking work on stem cells. He shares the prize with Sir John B. Gurdon of Britain.

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Biology, John Gurdon – Sir John Gurdon speaks Monday at a press conference after being awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine.

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Story highlights

The EU award is also likely to provoke debate in Norway where anti-EU feelings are running high

The EU received praise in bringing democracy to Portugal, Spain and Greece after their dictatorships

The award follows a number of recent Nobel Peace Prizes that have been shrouded in controversy

The EU won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its role in bringing democracy to a war-ravaged continent and in reconciling France and Germany.

The timing of the award is contentious with much of the EU embroiled in the eurozone crisis and a deep debate going on over the future of Europe.

But Thorbjørn Jagland, head of the Oslo-based Nobel Committee, stressed that the award was a reminder to Europe not to throw away the fruits of 60 years of integration as social unrest increases because of the current crisis.

"We want to focus on what has been achieved in Europe in terms of peace and reconciliation...It is a message to Europe to secure what they have achieved ... and not let the continent go into disintegration again because it means the emergence of extremism and nationalism," Jagland said.

Speaking shortly after the Nobel announcement in Oslo, José Manuel Barroso, who as the European Commission president is the most recognisable face of the EU, said he was honoured by the decision and that it was a reminder that even during the current crisis, "the EU is something very precious".

"It is a great honour for all 500m citizens of Europe, for all the member states, and for all the European institutions," Mr Barroso said at a hastily-called news conference. "Through its transformative power, the EU was able, starting with six countries, to reunite almost all the European continent."

The EU award follows a number of recent Nobel Peace Prizes that have been shrouded in controversy from US President Barack Obama in 2009 to Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo the following year. Norwegian business is still feeling the effects of the latter award with visas to China almost impossible to obtain.

The EU award is also likely to provoke sharp debate in Norway where anti-EU feelings are running at an all-time high with a poll last year suggesting 72 per cent of Norwegians would say no to joining the 27-country club.

Critics suggest the Norwegian committee uses the prize for private purposes or to send out political messages to the wider world rather than reward people or organisations that have helped peace. "This means that Jagland is using the Nobel Peace Prize for his own ends," lawyer and peace activist Fredrik Heffermehl told Aftenposten newspaper.

But the Norwegian committee, which hands out only the peace prize, with all other Nobel awards coming from Sweden, has discussed the possibility of the EU winning for several years. Geir Lundestad, the current secretary of the committee, said two years ago that the EU was only behind Mahatma Gandhi in terms of being overlooked for the prize.

Jagland tied the timing of the prize with worries that the process of integration in Europe could go into reverse even as the EU hopes to bring countries such as Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia into the club. He praised the EU's role in bringing democracy to Portugal, Spain and Greece after their dictatorships and pointed to the bloc's growing role in the Balkans.

"Everybody knows why the EU came, the awful background," Mr Jagland said, pointing to polls suggesting inhabitants in southern European countries still wanted to be part of the EU despite the problems with the euro.

Last year's peace prize was awarded to three women from Africa and the Middle East but any sense of harmony between the winners was shattered this week when Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian activist, chided fellow winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's president, for not doing enough to tackle corruption.